Brescia Dietetic Intern student seeks to inform London diners about menu options at local restaurants

February 12, 2010

Brescia University College Foods & Nutritional Sciences student Elena Usdenski wants diners to make informed choices when they order their meal at a London restaurant.

Usdenski’s Masters research project proposes the development of an interactive web-based map that will provide nutritional details about menu items and other pertinent information about London restaurants; the web site will be hosted by Brescia and is expected to launch this summer.

“We are doing this to educate the public about the nutritional content of menu items and will be doing nutritional analysis of three signature dishes for participating restaurants,” Usdenski said. The timing of her project couldn’t be better. Health advocates are backing an Ontario private member’s bill at Queen’s Park that would require chain restaurants with annual revenue of greater than $5 million to limit trans fats and provide calorie labels on menus.

A survey is being sent out to more than 350 privately-owned restaurants inviting them to participate in Usdenski’s project. The survey asks for information about the restaurant’s atmosphere, accessibility – including which bus routes they are on, pricing, and lots of information about the meals served – including portion sizes, nutritional content, and how the food is prepared. The surveys are also being sent to the head offices of national franchises with London locations in mid-February.

In a cover letter Usdenski will send with the survey to restaurant owners, she notes that according to the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), more than 80 per cent of Ontarians and 96 per cent of municipal leaders in Ontario agree with the OMA’s call to action on menu labeling. The legislation would require calorie contents to be listed adjacent to the items on menus and menu boards at chain restaurants and school cafeterias across the province.

Each participating restaurant will have the option to select which information is posted on the Brescia web site. Usdenski is curious to see if providing this information affects people’s dining choices. “We’ll see if this changes the public’s purchasing habits and if the public will demand more nutritional meals on the menu.” She expects that while some people will continue to make less nutritional choices because dining out is a treat, others may make more healthy choices once they are better informed.

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Brescia University College, Canada’s premier women’s university college, is affiliated with The University of Western Ontario. The 1,100 women registered as either full or part-time students at Brescia study a wide variety of subjects in Arts, Social Sciences, and Foods & Nutrition in an empowering, compassionate, student-centred, and invigorating environment. Degrees are granted by Western. The Catholic College welcomes students from all backgrounds and values diversity. For more information, please visit www.brescia.uwo.ca